G'day all
I'm about six weeks away from going car-lite. I'm middle aged, fat and a father of two so I can see it will be a challenge. For all of 2018 and a bit of the end of 2017 I cycle commuted pretty much exclusively (about 10km to 13km each way depending on my enthusiasm for hills) on a 26" hardtail that have skinny Marathon Plus tyres and a rack with great success. I'm currently doing some major training at work for a new position, during which I've decided to drive... but the end of that is in sight. My wife and I are currently a two car family. "My" car is great fun, it's a little two door Suzuki 4x4, however it is just about the least practical car in the world when it comes to family driving. With the two rear seats up it has about 85 litres of cargo space, and with two children that need child seats (one needs a rear facing capsule even) it's probably even less than that. As a result, last year it pretty much sat parked not being used for months at a time, and the expense of having it sit there not being used is just getting ridiculous so very shortly it'll be going on the second hand market and out of my life.
I'm still going to be partly relying on a motor though, my plan is to buy an e-bike, probably something like a Merida Espresso EQ. I want to be able to use it as my pedal-assist station wagon, hitch up the kids bike trailer, go do the grocery shopping at the supermarket, run errands and zip about town as needed. Our eldest kid is only two and in child care three days a week, and while I CAN get up the hill with her in the bike trailer on my regular bike, it's something I don't do with any regularity because of the difficulty... something I want to change. Regardless of the bike I'll be starting up bike commuting again, but will probably split the role 50/50 between the ebike and regular bike. Really frequently last year I'd have killed for an ebike and its "easier" ride home at 23:30 whilst doing late shifts, in freezing windy winter conditions. Conversely, in summer it regularly hits 40 degrees C and the cycle to work can turn into a sweat fest super quickly. To be able to alternate and pick the appropriate bike according to conditions will hopefully be something to help maintain my enthusiasm.
I would love to take cars out of my life completely, the cost where I live is pretty monumental (just the privileged of owning a car where I live in Australia works out to about $2000 a year when you factor in all the insurances, registration fees and regular servicing) but don't see that as a possible outcome while my wife remains reluctant. If I can 99% cycle commute, 99% take my daughter to child care, 66% do the shopping and 75% run errands then I see that as a win. At least it will be a base that I can start to improve from.